


Ichor and Ambrosia

by MabelLover



Series: Moirai [5]
Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Death, Gen, Guilt, I swear, Reincarnation, Sadness, accepting death, memories from past life, peace at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-19 00:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22268878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MabelLover/pseuds/MabelLover
Summary: Melina isn’t sure when she started to remember – perhaps only now, perhaps she always did. She isn’t sure if she should remember. Or if she wants to, because Myrlirn had a sad, sad life, destined to leave those she loved behind, leave them to waste themselves in a pointless mission. And she is destined to do so again.
Relationships: Melina Whistler & Janice Quatlane
Series: Moirai [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554079
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Ichor and Ambrosia

Melina isn’t sure when she started to _remember_ – perhaps only now, perhaps she always did, and wouldn’t that explain a lot. She isn’t sure if she _should_ remember. Or if she _wants_ to, because Myrlirn had a sad, sad life, destined to leave those she loved behind, leave them to waste themselves in a pointless mission. And she is destined to do so again, because her body is weak and the doctors don’t give her hope but months and her father made a deal with a madman and Janice cries when she thinks Melina is asleep.

She hates herself, Melina, because Janice left her classes in Gressenheller to stay with her and she _knows_ how much she loved Professor Layton’s lectures and because her father is unstable and almost deranged in his ramblings of how he will save her and she sees Myrlirn and Jenys and her people, past lives reflected in the current one, no chance of escape.

Melina thinks of her – Myrlirn’s – people, of an ancient kingdom surrounded by sea and music amongst many other ancient kingdoms that formed the land – the azran, how the language called it – of great inventions and great science but arrogance and pride. She thinks of the Elixir – no one can stop death, not even a people as great as those of the azran, and they payed for it. She thinks of Jenys, the crown she inherited from Myrlirn and the smile that was never quite right, never quite happy, it showed tiredness and wear and _age_ that she didn’t have, and how that smile appears in her dear friend once again – different body, same soul.

There’s a memory of another time, Myrlirn surrounded by doctors and advisors and golems standing guard, and hope in their eyes that the messengers will return with the concoction, and Myrlirn calls Jenys to her side. Melina calls Janice to her when she feels death coming once more, the warm blanket that held her for so long only to lose her momentarily, and for a moment she could swear that she sees _recognition_ in Janice’s eyes, but it isn’t, it can’t be, and she takes the pendant around her neck – a purple jewel, a Relic Stone – and places it in her hand ( _keep it, my crown, for you are my legacy, Jenys, the one-who-smiles_ ) and a blanket is wrapped around Melina. So warm, so sleepy, and she closes her eyes, because nothing lives forever and certainly not Melina Whistler.

It’s strange, the afterlife, because this time her father tries to retain her, pieces of her, and her soul is in many but comes back to one. Rose, Anne, Elora, Theresa, he attempts with many but none works for long – and then Nina comes and Melina shares a more stable mind with her. She teaches her the song and how to behave like Melina and occasionally takes over to stop her father and his partner from _disposing_ of the girl like the others – how could he do something like this, he was always so gentle – but it’s incomplete and he searches for another. Invites Helena Solomon, Amelia Ruth, Shaula Howard to a game of death disguised as an opera. And Melina acts secretly as Janice in another compartment of her soul-mind-something and calls Professor Layton – her friend always spoke of his mystery-solving skills.

He comes and he solves the puzzle and when he sees through her it’s a relief because it means that she can _leave_ , finally, stop causing more pain. Father calls out to her, and the man, the partner, grabs Melina-Janice and brings her _up_. _Sing_ , he demands, _rise Ambrosia once more_ , and she does but wants to scream the whole time, wants to tell them to stop bringing back the past, to stop, to stop, _stop_ because he doesn’t deserve it, Ambrosia doesn’t deserve it, and it won’t work, not without the third key, she knows, Myrlirn wrote it herself.

He rages when it doesn’t work and, in the height of his fury, he shakes the gigantic monster and brings out drills and Melina is thrown back and falls and _panics_ because this is also Janice, grabs onto a cable but her grip is shaky and only one hand and she might fall – and Luke calls out, he is coming to save her, and a drill comes in his direction, she screams, the Professor screams, an explosion and the boy manages to get on the cable and helps her up. They look around, the question in their minds permeating the air, and a sigh of relief escapes Luke when they spot the Professor hanging on to a pipe. They climb up, and when they reach the top he asks her to sing – and she does, because she is so _tired_ and just wants to end this already – the melody is all around them, impossibly loud, and the ground shakes, ruins coming out of the sea, huge pipes ( _ambrosia tubes, music is everything, including what gives us a name, don’t forget this Myrlirn_ ). The man rages again, and they leave before the fortress is destroyed.

There’s a memory of another time, _Myrlirn, listen well, daughter, we have the blood of gods in our veins, because we are never forgotten, not really, and that is what gives us immortality_ and her people misunderstand when they call her immortal because she is not, they misunderstood the tale, she can’t defy death, _life past death, my dear, is to be remembered by those who loved us, but many forget this_. And Melina says goodbye to her father and to the Professor and to Luke and to Janice and hopes that they understand ( _goodbye, Janice, Jenys, my dear friend, goodbye, father, goodbye_ ). She holds onto the Relic Stone once more ( _I make you my legacy_ ) and _vanishes_ -

Melina isn’t sure when she started to remember, but this isn’t the time to remember. It’s the time to _be remembered_.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think! :)


End file.
